


The Ones Left Over

by othellia



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-27
Updated: 2010-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/othellia/pseuds/othellia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small twist on the fics where Zuko and Katara realize their love and run off together; Post-series</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ones Left Over

“It’s my fault really. Karma, I guess,” Zuko said.

Katara turned her head towards the young Fire Lord and raised an eyebrow.

“I had a crush on you when we were younger,” he blurted out, a small blush creeping over his cheeks. “A small crush, mind you. And I still really liked Mai, so it wasn’t ever at the top of my thoughts. It wasn’t anything big but…”

“It was a crush nonetheless,” Katara finished for him.

The two young adults were currently seated side by side on the grass next to one of the Fire Nation palace’s many ponds. Summer was in full force; the baby turtleducks that had hatched in the spring were almost indistinguishable from their adult counterparts. Anyone in their right minds would be at the beach during this time of the year, by the coast, anywhere with some kind of water and a refreshing breeze… not here in the gardens, surrounded by plants that were beginning to brown despite the best efforts of the palace gardeners.

But then again, Katara and Zuko weren’t exactly in their right minds.

“Did you ever have a crush on me?” Zuko asked, turning his head slightly away from Katara. He seemed nonchalant, but Katara noticed he kept her face in the corner of his eye.

“When?”

“I don’t know. Back when we were both traveling with Aang, I suppose.” If he saw her slightly flinch at the airbender’s name, he ignored it.

“No.”

“Oh.”

They both turned their attention back to the pond. A few koi-minnows skittered across its bottom.

“Ever wanted more power?” Zuko asked after what seemed like forever.

Katara stared at him.

“What kind of question is that?” she asked.

“A reasonable one,” he said. “After all, there isn’t just one kind of power. Take bending for example. Bending is a kind of power. You and me, Toph... Aang. And we’re always working to get better; we want to get better. So in a way, we all want power.”

“Yeah, to protect people.”

“Then it’s power that’s used to protect people. But it doesn't change the fact that it's power.”

Katara leaned back from Zuko to really get a good look at him. “Where are you going with this?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Marry me,” he said with a grin.

“Now the heat’s really gone to your head,” Katara said resisting the sudden urge to throw something at his head. That would only complicate things by causing further brain damage. “You’re just proposing in the hopes that we’ll be able to get revenge somehow.”

“No. Of course not! Well... maybe revenge has a little to do with it,” Zuko said. His grin faded slightly. “Okay, maybe a lot.”

“Zuko, I’m not marrying you just to get revenge.”

“Why not?”

“Other than the fact that it’s one of the most terrible ideas I’ve ever heard?” Katara said. “I guess I’m just not a revenge kind of person.”

“It worked the the last time we joined forces.”

“That was years ago. And ‘worked’ isn’t quite the word that I would use to describe it,” Katara said, remembering the night they tracked down the man who had murdered her mother.

“We'll never know until we try it.”

“Zuko, I am _not_ marrying you. End of discussion,” she said sharply.

And that seemed to be the end of it.

Then something in Katara’s head clicked. A small smirk rose on her face. “You still have a crush on me, don’t you?”

His grin faded completely. “Not at all,” he said with a haughty sniff, the words coming out a bit too rushed to sound casual.

“Because,” Katara said, her smirk widening, “if you did, then I might actually consider your offer.”

“Really?”

“No.”

Katara couldn’t help but feel the smallest satisfaction at Zuko’s slightly pained look following her response. Then again, it was his fault for bringing up the subject in the first place. Besides, the man recovered quickly.

“Would it help if I got down on my knees?”

“We’re already sitting, so... no.”

“You could always stand up,” Zuko said.

“Fine! I will stand up!” Katara shouted as she picked herself off the ground. “If only so I’ll be able to leave. This is all just some big joke to you, isn’t it? You’re so... so... _stupid_!”

Katara threw her hands up and stormed off in the direction of her chambers. Both she and Zuko knew there wasn’t anywhere else she really could go. There wasn't really anywhere he could go either. Not if they didn’t want to hear the whispers.

After all, the people of the Fire Nation loved to gossip, and it wasn’t every day that the Avatar ran off with the Fire Lord’s wife.


End file.
